Category Technology/Electronics

In an important step forward in the quest to build a quantum computer using silicon-based hardware, researchers have succeeded in making possible the exchange of information between two qubits located relatively far apart – about the length of a grain of rice, which is a considerable distance on a computer chip. Connecting two silicon qubits across this distance makes possible new and more complex silicon-based quantum computer circuits.

Imagine a world where people could only talk to their next-door ne...

Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) explore a new material combination that sets the stage for magnetic random access memories, which rely on spin – an intrinsic property of electrons – and could outperform current storage devices...

A device that can separate and recombine pairs of electrons may offer a way to study an unusual form of superconductivity, according to RIKEN physicists. This superconducting state would involve exotic particles, Majorana fermions that could prove useful in developing quantum computers.

In conventional superconductors, electrical current flows with no resistance due to electrons teaming up to make ‘Cooper pairs’. A superconductor touching a normal conductor can sometimes induce superconductivity in that conductor through Cooper pairs from the superconductor penetrating the normal conductor.

Now, Sadashige Matsuo of the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and collea...

The University of Surrey has developed a robust multi-layed nano-barrier for ultra-lightweight and stable carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRPs) that could be used to build high precision instrument structures for future space missions.

CFRP is used in current space missions, but its applications are limited because the material absorbs moisture. This is often released as gas during a mission, causing the material to expand and affect the stability and integrity of the structure. Engineers try to minimise this problem with CFRP by performing long, expensive procedures such as drying, recalibrations and bake-out- all of which may not completely resolve the issue.